Angels take another tumble in 5-2 loss to Rangers

Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press

Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick writhes on the ground after making contact with right fielder Collin Cowgill while trying to make a catch in the fifth inning of the team's 5-2 loss to the Texas Rangers on Monday.

Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick writhes on the ground after making contact with right fielder Collin Cowgill while trying to make a catch in the fifth inning of the team's 5-2 loss to the Texas Rangers on Monday. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

A season marred by injuries took another ugly turn Monday night when Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick suffered a hyperextended left knee and had to be helped off the field in the fifth inning of a 5-2 loss to the Texas Rangers.

Kendrick, who is batting .301, was listed as day to day but could be headed for the disabled list, where he would join first baseman Albert Pujols (partial tear left heel), center fielder Peter Bourjos (broken right wrist), pitcher Jason Vargas (blood clot, left armpit) and reliever Sean Burnett (flexor tendon tear).

With a three-man bench and 13 pitchers, the Angels will probably call up Grant Green on Tuesday from triple A. Green was acquired from Oakland last week.

"He'll certainly be down for a number of days, and hopefully that will be a best-case scenario," Manager Mike Scioscia said of Kendrick. "He's an important guy to us, and to lose him would be big."

With runners on second and third, two out and the score tied, 1-1, Elvis Andrus flared a ball to shallow right that Kendrick went back on. Outfielder Collin Cowgill rushed in, attempted a sliding catch and clipped Kendrick, who twisted his knee as he planted his foot in the turf.

"I didn't even see him, and the next thing I know we're running into each other," said Kendrick, who was on crutches after the game and will undergo an MRI exam Tuesday. "I guess the good thing is he slid, because if we were both standing up trying to make that play, it might have been a lot worse."

The ball fell for a two-run triple and a 3-1 Texas lead. The Rangers pushed it to 5-1 in the sixth when Adrian Beltre homered against starter Jerome Williams and Jurickson Profar hit an run-scoring single against reliever Michael Kohn.

The Angels scored in the seventh inning and had the bases loaded with two out when Kole Calhoun, pinch-hitting for replacement second baseman Tommy Field, lined out to right field, a move that required Mark Trumbo to switch from first to third base, a position he hadn't played since May 3, 2012.

The Angels loaded the bases again with two out in the eighth, but J.B. Shuck flied to the wall in right to end the inning.

Before the game, the Angels released veteran reliever Ryan Madson, who had so many setbacks in his recovery from Tommy John surgery that he was unable to pitch this season.

The Angels signed Madson to a one-year, $3.5-million contract with incentives that could have pushed the deal to $7 million, but the closest the right-hander got to returning was a one-inning stint for Class-A Inland Empire on May 13.

Madson, 32, last pitched for Philadelphia in 2011, going 4-2 with a 2.37 earned run average and 32 saves. He signed a one-year, $8.5-million deal with Cincinnati in 2012 but underwent elbow surgery that April.

"This was an upside gamble that I deemed worth the risk, and unfortunately it did not transpire for either Ryan or the club," General Manager Jerry Dipoto said. "We signed Ryan with the belief he would return to the mound and positively impact our team.

"It became increasingly more apparent to us that he was not going to pitch for the Angels this season. Our medical team has spent much time, effort and resources in the effort to facilitate a healthy return. It's been a long and difficult process for all involved."